Senator Convicted of Misdemeanor Charges in Clash With Photographer

(New York Times) — State Senator Kevin S. Parker was convicted of misdemeanor charges on Tuesday stemming from a confrontation with a photographer for The New York Post, but he was cleared of more serious felony assault charges. Mr. Parker, a Brooklyn Democrat, was found guilty of two counts of criminal mischief for damaging a camera belonging to the photographer, William C. Lopez, when he confronted Mr. Lopez last year for taking pictures outside the home of the senator’s mother in East Flatbush. The verdict in State Supreme Court in Brooklyn came one day after a former state senator, Vincent L. Leibell III, a Hudson Valley Republican, pleaded guilty to federal charges of tax evasion and obstruction of justice. He was accused of soliciting kickbacks from lawyers in his district.